The Truth
by God's Angel of Music
Summary: VRMMORPG. Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. SAO. Sword Art Online. Those four phrases would haunt my mind for over two years. In those two years, I found fear, unlike anything I'd ever known. I'd found strength beyond stats and I'd found something more... My name is Kurusaki Kazuki, but not many people know me as that. Full summary inside.
1. Link Start!

**I do not own Sword Art Online or anything in its pages. I own this fanfic and my OCs. Without further ado...**

VRMMORPG. Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. SAO. Sword Art Online. Those four phrases would haunt my mind for over two years. In those two years, I found fear, unlike anything I'd ever known. I'd found strength beyond stats and I'd found something more... My name is Kurusaki Kazuki, but not many people know me as that. They know me as Crow, the Masked Swordsman. You all know the story of Kirito, the Black Swordsman, but that's not the whole story. When he told it, he left certain factors out, like me, Kayaba Saki and the Birds of a Feather. This is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. This is what really happened...

**Chapter 1 Link Start! **

The release of Sword Art Online had been long anticipated, taking over the news networks for the past month. Being one of the hardcore gamers, I had camped outside the nearest store. I made friends with this loudmouth Casanova wannabe who told me to look for anyone named Klein in-game. I said I'd look him up, but there'd be no guarantees. The very next day was opening day for SAO. I lay on me bed, the NerveGear, the tool that immersed players into SAO, rested over my head, and I watched the clock tick over to one o'clock.

"Link Start!" I said, initiating the Full Dive system. Colours swirled around me, until my vision faded to white. The system did the standard tests. Then, it welcomed me to Sword Art Online. Afterwards, I received the prompt. **Select Language:** I chose **Japanese**. Another prompt opened up. **Please enter your name:** I quickly selected the letters, **C-r-o-w**, which spelled **Crow**. When that finished processing, it told me to select my appearance. I chose black hair, gold eyes, Caucasian skin, average figure and became six foot two. I then skimmed through the classes. None really appealed to me. The heavy weapons that I preferred using in normal MMORPGs were too slow, not leaving much room for speed. Then, one class, at the very end of the list caught my attention.

**Buster Blader: Focuses on STR, AGI and STA. Buster Bladers are a complicated class. While carrying a huge sword that can inflict large amounts of damage, they also wear light armour to increase their speed. Players who encounter Buster Bladers generally think they are glass cannons, able to deal large amounts of damage, but unable to take a hit. But, CON is also a major focus of their skills. In SAO, Buster Bladers will have the ability to increase their strength and speed to inhuman levels.**

This readout intrigued me, along with the HUGE sword on the back of the e.g. avatar. I selected it, and my vision faded to white again. When it cleared, I was in a medieval town, surrounded by people, more appearing by the minute. A player with a samurai looking appearance walked up to me.

"Hey man, you know anything about this game?" He asked. I narrowed my eyes. Was he suggesting he tutor me? He got the message of my glare, because he quickly added, "Because I need some help figuring this out." My gaze softened. So he was just a new player, like me.

"Sorry pal, I'm just as clueless as you." I replied. His eyes wandered to the huge sword strapped to my back. I smirked, knowing that he was wondering why a newbie would have a massive sword. "My specialty in all MMORPGs have always been huge weapons." The samurai avatar shook his head.

"Anyway, my name's Klein." He said, extending his hand. I laughed. When he looked at me quizzically, I explained,

"Your that Casanova wannabe that told me to look him up in-game." He kept staring at me, a dumb look on his face. Sighing, I continued, "I'm the kid who helped you set up your tent." His gaze moved passed me. Following it, I spotted a black haired fantasy protagonist cliche. Klein ran off, trying to get his attention. Sitting down, I sent him a friend request. When it was accepted, I got back up and trudged to the market. Going to the equipment store, I found and bought a basic mask that covered my eyes. I walked out, and ran into a small girl wearing a hood and had whiskers on her face.

"Watch it, buddy." She said. I quickly apologised.

"I'm Crow." I introduced, extending my hand. The girl smiled and shook it.

"Argo. I'm an info broker. That guidebook in your inventory is my work. I specialise in gathering info from other players, NPCs and quests." Argo replied. Grinning, I glanced at her weapons. Two battle-claws hung from her belt.

"Would you be able to give me a few pointers to get started?" I asked, not really expecting her to say yes.

"Sure." She said, laughing at my surprised face, "I always offer my services as free for the first time anyone requests them, but after that, I charge."

* * *

We went out to the hunting fields. Argo pulled out her battle-claws and motioned for me to unsheathe my Buster Blade. The huge sword was surprisingly light.

"So, the game has four basic sword skills. **Slash**, **Thrust**, **Smash** and **Swipe**. I can show you Slash and Swipe, but the other two wouldn't be much use to your sword." Argo began. Then, she walked up to a boar, getting its attention, "To put this in layman's terms, think of a sword skill like a slingshot." She held her claws back, as if charging them up. Sure enough, they began to glow a dark green. "You then release the move and deal a huge amount of damage to monsters and opponents." She let her claws shoot forward. They crossed over and slashed an X into the boar's face. The wild pig shimmered for a bit, then exploded into a cloud of pixels. Another boar came up to us. I decided to test out my sword, so Argo stood back. Holding my sword back, I let the power build up. When I heard the whistle that indicated my sword skill activating, I let it loose. I rushed forward and swiped the boar in half.

**Congratulations! **

**You defeated a Boar! **

**Rewards! **

**50 EXP **

**10 Col **

**Boar meat **

**Ivory tusk **

**Ivory Buster**

The final reward stunned me a little, but I smiled when Argo slapped me on the back saying, "Nice work, you got the hang of it. How about we friend each other, that way we can keep in touch." Sure enough, a friend request appeared.

**Argo would like to be your friend! **

**Do you accept? **

**Yes No**

I selected yes. Then, Argo fixed me with a glare.

"If I hear about you going to another info broker, you HP is forfeit." She said, an icy tone making her threat even more menacing. If not for the fact that she was stroking her battle-claws, I probably would have laughed.

"Y-yes ma'am." I said. Then, the bells rang. Curious as to what was going on, I looked to Argo.

"System announcement." She deadpanned. Then, we were both engulfed in a blue light and appeared in the central square of the Starting City. Just like everyone else, I was confused.

"What's going on? Where is the GM?" I asked Argo. She said nothing, instead she pointed a shaky hand up to the sky. There, in the middle of the sky was a single red hexagon. It read WARNING. For a few seconds, I starred at it. Then, it expanded into multiple hexagons, engulfing the sky in red. I looked at Argo. She was shaking violently, her eyes wide with fear. She jumped in shock when I put a hand on her shoulder. Then, a red blood-like substance flowed out of the lines between the thousands of hexagons. The liquid formed a huge red robe, the symbol of a GM, according to what Argo told me, on the way to the hunting fields surrounding the town.

**Players of Sword Art Online, welcome to my world.**

It was at that moment, my life, and the lives of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine others, changed forever.


	2. The Death Game Begins

**I don't own Sword Art Online, or any of the characters. I own my OCs and this fanfiction.**

Chapter 2 The Death Game Begins

The announcement that Kayaba Akihiko made was terrifying.

**Players of Sword Art Online, welcome to my world. I am Kayaba Akihiko. Some of you may have noticed the logout button is missing from the main menu. This is not a defect. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is a feature of SAO. You cannot log out by normal means, nor can the NerveGear be removed from your head. If someone from the outside world attempts to do so, the NerveGear will destroy your brain. Furthermore, there is no longer a revival system in the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be permanently deleted and the NerveGear will destroy your brain. Unfortunately, families have ignored my warnings and attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players have already died. There is but one way to log out of SAO. You must clear all one hundred floors and defeat the final boss. Only then, can all players log out of the game. As proof that what I am saying is true, I have provided you all with a gift.** As if on cue, a notification said:

** You have received an item:**

** Hand Mirror **

**Do you wish to materialise? **

**Yes No**

Like everyone else, I selected yes. The mirror appeared in my hand. I looked at it. I saw my avatar's face, approximately twenty, long black hair, white mask with red markings, Caucasian skin. Then, I was engulfed in a blue light. When the light vanished, my face was different. It was that of my real body. Still, long black hair, but with red highlights. My mask had disappeared, revealing my gold eyes. My skin had a more Hispanic look to it. And my face was younger. It revealed that I was in fact fourteen. I looked over to Argo. She actually didn't look that different. Her cloak had disappeared, revealing her short auburn hair and brown eyes. She was quivering in fear. I looked back up at Kayaba Akihiko.

** Right now, you're all probably wondering, 'Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online, do this?' The answer is simple. I had one goal in mind, and it has been achieved. I wished to create a world of my own design, then interfere with it. This has been done. This ends the tutorial part of Sword Art Online. Play well...** With that, his GM avatar vanished into static. The entire group stood in silence for about ten seconds. Then, a young girl dropped the pin (screamed) and set off the minefield (panic). The entire population of players were in a state of panic. I quickly re-equipped my mask and stored the mirror. I also equipped the **Ivory Buster**. Argo, who had re-equipped her cloak and hood, grabbed my sleeve. Pulling me into an alleyway, she began sending over items.

"Look, we can't stay here. I'm giving you some items I got as a reward for reporting hackers." She said, "Death Game or not, they still reward a hefty prize for that." She chuckled to herself.

"Look, Argo, I'd really like to go with you, but my brother is out there." I said, "He'd be able to help me, because he's an ex-Beta Tester." I smiled sadly. Argo thought for a moment.

"Do you know what his name is?" She asked.

"He said his username was Raven." I replied, "Why?" Argo opened up her menu, went to contacts and selected someone. She sent a PM to that person. A few seconds later, she received a simple reply. **Ok**. Someone appeared in the entrance of the alleyway. He had short black-blue hair and the same gold eyes as mine. He had an olive skin tone.

"Hey bro."

* * *

After we talked for five minutes, Raven and I prepared to leave. Before we did, Raven turned back to Argo.

"Why don't you come with us?" He asked, "We could do with some of your smarts." Argo shook her head.

"Someone has to keep the newbies safe, and we both know Kirito won't." They stared at each other. For ten minutes. Then, Raven whispered, "Goodbye." Argo replied the same way, and Raven and I turned and began to leave.

"WAIT!" Argo shouted. I turned to see her walk up to Raven, and pull him closer to her, then kiss him. They stood there, lip-locked, for at least thirty seconds. When they finally parted, it was obvious that both Argo and Raven were blushing. Then, Raven and I turned and left.


End file.
